


Let's Turn Up the Crazy

by Finn565



Series: Hate Means Love [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hallucinations, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Rehabilitation, Schizophrenic! Joker, Some Fluff, didn't mean for that to happen, its gonna get fucked up kiddo's, mostly angst, voices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-26 20:17:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9920696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finn565/pseuds/Finn565
Summary: Joker's not doing so great. He thought he would be doing better after his little quarrel with Bats but it doesn't seem like it. He needs help, but luckily Robin is the sweetest boy in the whole world.(Sorry if anyones got a problem with the way this is written in future chapters. I'm going based off of what I learned from my psy professor so it should be accurate but it might not be. Who's tah say  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. also this might be a little OOC but i don't think so??? idk)





	1. Because You Listen

He didn’t know when this had become their thing but it was definitely something that belonged to them now. It was getting a lot of buzz in the news too, he liked that part. Attention was something he craved and it felt good to be on the front pages of the newspaper. This felt more like tabloids than “Joker beat by Batman again.” 

The news titles recently were more about him and batman's new hate thing. Once the bat had said it a few times it became easy, like most things. Joker got a thrill every time the black clad man said it. He’d gidly shout it back until they were just having a yelling match about who hated the other more. 

Joker was already thinking about new plans to get them to fight again. New ways to “take” over Gotham. Just so he could hold the same conversation again. “Mr. J, doesn’t this seem. I don't know, weird to you?”

“What are you referring to, Harley.” 

“The fact that all you wanna do is spend time with Batman. We used to be about taking over the city.”

He raised an eyebrow, “We are still going to try and take the city.”

“That's just the thing, boss. It used to be that we  _ were _ going to take the city, now we just try. Just cause you want to have another shouting match with the bat.”

“So? I’m-I’m missing your point here, girlbuddy.” He crossed his arms, fingers drumming against his upper arm. 

“Are you sure you really hate batman?”

He let out a gasp, “Are you implying what I think you are implying?” 

She crossed her own arms and nodded with her eyes closed.

He scrunched his face up into a frown, “No, no way. That's not remotely true, Harley.”

“I’m just stating facts, buddy. The news is onto it too!”

“Then I’ll hit the bat where it really hurts,” He let a grin split his face. Showing off rows of sharp teeth, he linked his fingers together. “Right in the heart.”

***

Joker stood outside of the Wayne manor, a grin on his face as he was unafraid of walking up to the front doors. He rapped his knuckles against the large planks of wood. “Come on out, Batman. I know you’re roommates and all but there's no need to hide away like this!”

There was no answer, as to be expected. Well he’d announced his presence so, “I guess I’ll let myself in! Harley if you wouldn’t mind.” 

His friend brought the large black, white and red hammer into the front doors. “Oh Bruce!” he sang, “Batsy! Anyone home!” He marched into the foyer and spread his arms. “You can’t hide. Well, your house is big and probably has many hiding places, but I’ll find you.” 

A small brown haired boy stood with wide eyes, even wider at them. “J-Joker?” He grinned down at the little boy. He recognised those eyes. 

Joker grinned wide.“If it isn’t Batsy’s little sidekick. Home alone are we?”

The little boy smiles, “Richard! People call me dick.”

“Who whoa whoa.” he stuck both hands out, “no need to be that derogatory now, kid, Richard will do. Now where's the bat?”

“Oh, he just went out to get some things. He said I couldn’t come but he should be back soon. Do you want to wait for him?”

“Oh ho ho,” He chuckled darkly, “That won’t be necessary.” He took two steps forward and Richard took three back. “You’re coming with me.”

***

It didn't take long for batman to show up, for some reason he was really attached to this little human. “Oh hello, Batsy!” He held the boy by his arms as he wiped out a gun. “Long time no see.”

“This is crossing a line, Joker. Give him back.” The bat narrowed his blue glowing eyes.

He pretended to ponder the situation, taping the gun against his chin, before re-aiming it at the boy. “Mmm I don’t think I will.” He grinned wide.

“Please.” Oh, that sounded like real desperation, he liked that. It made him giggle, gave him that rush he craved. 

“The p-word doesn’t work on me, Batman.”

“I’ll do anything.” 

Perfect. “Great, I have an exact idea for what I want. I want you to stop the press from releasing all these news stories about us.” He can see the confusion on the superhero’s face. “You see, I’m not very fond of how they paint things. You have two days, and then the boy goes.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me, Batsy.” Joker grins and presses the gun to the boy’s temple, Richard lets out a little whimper as his mouth is bound and he can’t speak.

“No!” Batman reaches out like the action can force the gun out of his hands, “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Trying won’t get you anywhere. You have to do it. Two days. Good luck.” He pulls the boy back inside the lair with maniac laughter and shuts the door.

“Good work, Mr. J.” Harley gives him a smile and a thumbs up.

“Thank you, thank you.” He takes some small bows before ripping the duct tape off the boy’s lips. “There you go, Richard. Some fresh air.”

The little side kick lets out a yelp, “You don’t really plan to kill me, right?”

“Of course he does! The boss-”

“No.” Joker flops into his chair and turns on the T.V.

“W-what. But boss, he-” Harley stammers.

“Look we don’t need to kill the kid. If Batman loves this kid like I think he does then he’ll get the press to do what he wants, no problem.” 

“Oh thank you, Joker, sir!”

“Just don’t tell anyone. And when Bats gets you back you tell him I tortured you in here alright.”

“Yes, sir, Mister Joker!” Richard smiles at him. He rolls his eyes and turns his attention to the news. Waiting for the newsreels about him and Batman to disappear forever so he can move on to other things.

“You know, Batman is my dad.”

He turns his head back to the tied up child, “Are you gonna talk all the time?”

“He talks about you a lot.”

Joker sat up from his usual slouch at that. “Oh, does he?” 

“Yeah, I mean you and him see each other a lot. He’s bored usually when he's not fighting you. I think you are good for eachother, even if your methods are a little unorthodox for a couple-”

“Wait wait wait, kid.” He leaned forward, “Go back. What does he say about me?”

“That he hates you and all that.” Joker lets a dreamy smile spread across his lips, his lids lower and he lets out a sigh. “Whoa, Mr. Joker sir.”

“Hmm?”

“It's just,” The boy pushed himself up to his feet and waddled, due to his restrained arms and legs, to sit closer. “The way you reacted. That's not things enemies do to each other.”

“What do you mean?” He grimaced and narrowed his eyes, he didn’t like the direction this conversation was heading.

“I mean, that's what you do when you like someone.” Exactly as he thought.

“I definitely do not feel anything positive about Batsy.”

“You even have a pet name for him.”

The joker blinked in confusion for a second before turning around. “Harley?”

She poked her head around the corner, “What is it, Mr. J?”

“Is Batsy a pet name? He raised one eyebrow in her direction.

“Um,” She fidgeted for a second, “Gotta say, boss. It's a pet name. No one else calls him Batsy.”

“Damn it,” He turned around and slumped, “Sorry about the language kid.”

“It's okay!” Richard smiled at him. “You and my dad should get to know each other! I bet you have a lot in common!”

“That's not going to happen. Stop talking before I put the duct tape back on your mouth.” 

***

This kid was driving him crazy and he had half a mind to just give him back now. It was constant noise even if he covered the kids mouth. The boy never stopped humming, or talking. But Joker would take the humming over the talking anytime. Because Richard just wanted to talk about feelings whenever he opened his mouth.  

Joker was having a particularly bad day today. Somedays were just bad for him. The voices were louder and they didn’t exactly always say the most uplifting things in the world. He was pretty sure he’d just been staring at this counter top for a solid fifteen now.

“Joker, sir? Are you alright?” 

His gaze turns towards Richard, sitting close but not too close. Not enough to make him nervous. “Yah uh, I’m just.”

“You look like you’re sadder than normal today.”

Joker grimaces at that, “What do you mean ‘sadder than normal’?”

“Well, you always look sad when you daze off. I don’t know why, but I don’t really like it. You’re always happy when you fight my dad though. I can tell! But today you look sadder than you usually do.”

He ponders these thoughts a bit, a voice tells him that the boy is right. The second tells him he needs to do something drastic, something dangerous he doesn’t want to think about. Another says something he's never heard before;  _ you’d be happier if Batman was here.  _ He can’t help but listen to that one, as it seems the most positive out of all the others speaking. He even tilts his head like it will help him hear the voice better.

_ He’d hold you close and tell you everything was going to be okay. _

That sounded so appealing, no one had ever done that for him.

_ He’d tell you nice things about yourself and keep you from all this, he’d tell you he loves you. _

“No he wouldn’t.” He says aloud, Richard gives him a confused look and he rubs at his temples. “Sorry. Sorry.”

_ I hate you really means I love you. And you know it. You’ve know it for a while now. _

“Shut up.” He waves a hand around as if the Joker can brush these things away.

“Sir I haven’t said anythi-”

“Sorry, Richy~” Harley skates around the back of his chair and stops. “He's off his meds.” Joker grumbles as he slumps a bit father, the posture is probably terrible for his back and neck. “Boo-boo, you gotta take your medication. They’ll go away if you do.”

“Can you bring them to me.” He looks up to give her puppy dog eyes, she huffs but skates off to go find them, “Thank you!”

“What do you take medication for?” His attention is yet again on the boy, man this kid asks a lot of questions. How can Batman put up with him.

“Lots of things.”

“You hear voices?”

Hes reluctant to answer but eventually says, “Yes.”

“What do they tell you?”

“You got a lot of questions, kid. Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back. What do they tell you?”

Joker smiles slightly, no one ever really says the whole thing anymore, smart kid. “Sometimes they tell me to do things. Sometimes they tell me things about myself I don't want to hear.”

“That sounds awful.” Richard frowns, a pout that even the Joker can admit is cute. “You can talk to me if you ever need anyone, Joker!” the boy beams at him. 

Now he can see how Batman tolerates him, he smiles slightly, “Okay.” He reaches out and ruffles the boy's hair slightly, “Thanks, kid.” 

Harley swoops back in to hand him the little pills. He stares down at them for a second before tipping them back. He always expects the voices to go away immediately but they never do. It takes him a second to realise he's going to have them around for another twenty minutes or so before his system takes the pills in and they fade out.

_ He’d give you the pills everyday and help you get better. He’d hold you close at night so you could get some actual sleep for once.  _

The Joker covers his face and groans. “If I have to listen to one more idea about this i'm going to go even more insane.”

***

Harley is insistent on tucking Richard in to bed at night. The Joker kind of gets that, the kids just to nice for his own good.

“I’m gonna miss ‘em when you gotta give ‘em back, Mr. J.”

“Me too.” It's been two days, and tomorrow Batman is going to call him on his bluff. He can just tell that the bat has figured him out. The news hasn’t changed at all but he's not sure if the press just isn’t interested in listing or if Batman just hasn’t been trying.

Richard has become quit the presence in the last few days. He's taken up to taking care of the kid, he's not an absolute monster and Dick is just too nice for him to be awful to. He means it when he says he’ll miss Richard when they hand him over tomorrow. Because that's what he's going to do. 

He’ll give up, and he’ll most likely be thrown back into Arkham Asylum because that's what Batsy does best. At least that place is easy to get out of.

“Mr. J, I think you should have a chat with Bats.” 

“Why?” Joker is pulled from his own thoughts. 

“Because everyone else can see how you feel except you two it would seem, you two need to work it out.” 

He scoffs, turning to take his leave, “I have no idea what you are going on about girlbuddy.” 

_ Yes, you do. You should really just give in. I’ll never stop talking. _

He grips at the hair on the side of his head and lets out a groan. “Why are you the loudest one??”

_ Because you listen. _


	2. Not Doing so Hot

He let out a bored sigh as the black clad man walked up to him. “Where is he?”

“Hes getting his shoes on, don't you worry. I haven’t touched a single hair on his head.” The Joker sounds bored even to his own ears. He can see the confused look on his enemies face.

“Dad!” Richard runs out of the warehouse and gives the Bat a hug.

“Robin.” to the Joker's surprise Batman hugs the boy back. He knew they were close but he’d never seen Batman outwardly express care for someone else.

“Mr. Joker took real good care of me.” Richard beams up at his father.

“Oh did he?” Bats looks up at him now, a confused look on his face.

“Look, would you take your son and go, say a hello to Bruce for me.” Joker waves a hand nonchalantly and walks back inside. He expects the super hero to burst in and capture him, drag him back to the asylum. No such thing happens, though. 

He lets out a sigh.

***

It feels like it's been weeks. He doesn’t know, maybe it has been. Joker has completely lost track of time and his desire for chaos. His paranoia is up too, feels like the walls are even speaking to him. If the clothes on his body could strangle him, he feels like they would. And that's crazy to think about but they do feel tighter than normal. He knows it's just his illnesses acting up, but he can’t seem to ignore them. 

 Harley is getting antsy. She wants to go out and make a scene but recently all he wants to do is sit at home and do nothing. The voices are getting louder. Especially a certain one.

_ He’d make a place for you, you know. You could be happy there.  _ Things like that. 

“Mr. J?” Harley gently touches his wrist and he withdraws from her gesture, “I think you are depressed, boss.”

“Oh yah?” He snaps, “What gave you that impression?”

“You haven’t done anything in a long time. You’re not eating, you’re not sleepin’. And I know the voices are really buggin’ you. Boo-boo, come out and have some fun with me.” 

“Harley, if you want to go out and cause some sort of havoc be my guest but I’m not going anywhere.” 

She huffs but he can tell she's going to leave now. And moments later he hears the front doors close. He lets out a sigh and waits for the hours to go by before she returns.

Unfortunately, she's not the one who comes back. The door is kicked in and falls to the ground with a clang. He barely looks up from his previous dissociative state. The bat comes in and he grimaces.

“No, by all means. Make yourself at home.”

“Shut up, I know what you’re planning.” The bat stalks closer

“Yah!” Robin raises his fists, not far behind. “We know exactly what you are up to.”

“Shh, dad’s got this. Tell me what your plan is.”

“What plan.” Joker rolls his eyes. 

“Harley, you’ve sent her out to get things for you. What are you planning?”

“I don’t know what she's done, but whatever it was she did it on her own.” He sighs and rubs at his temples. “I’m not planning anything.” 

“Mr. Joker?” Richard takes a couple steps forward. “You seem even sadder then the last time I saw you.” the kid is unafraid to take a couple more steps. He shrugs because he really doesn't have the energy to “talk it out” or whatever the boy does.

“We have to help him.” Robin makes a fist and brings it into his own hand.

“What? No, I don't help the Joker. I put him in his place.”

“We gotta!” Robin spins around, “can’t you see how upset he is! We have to help him, it's our job to help people.”

“Its our job to help the city.” Batman grunts.

“Please?” Robin’s eyes shimmer and he sticks out his bottom lip.

The bat groans, clutching his fists and then sighs. “Fine.”

“Yay!” The bright sparkly boy spins back around taking his hands. “Have you been taking your meds, sir?”

“No.” Joker huffs as a response.

“Let's get those for you. Where do you keep them?”

“Harley keeps them. I have no idea.” He shrugs, it's only half true. She does keep them hidden, he thinks she's scared he will take the whole thing someday. But he knows the general area, he just doesn’t want to take them.

“Dad, can you look around for the pills? I’m going to get some food going!” Richard skips off to the shambles of what they call a kitchen. 

Batman narrows his eyes before shuffling around in the increasing mess. He doesn’t get up, he's not interested in taking the medication. The bat is gone for a few minutes and returns soon enough. “Here.” The black clad man offers his palm out, in it is little orange bottle.

“I don’t want it.” He snarls, making sure to bare his teeth. 

“Take them.” Batman shakes the bottle for emphasis.   
His lips curl upwards and he makes sure to add the  old lilt of their previous fights. “Make me~”

Without hesitation the other man grabs his jaw. He closes his mouth defiantly and hums. Batman grabs his nose to close off his air supply but he only smiles. His lungs burn, begging him to take in a breath. He gasps, hoping to get in enough air before the knight can react.

Unfortunately, Batman reacts just fine and stuffs the pills in his mouth. A hand covers his mouth so he can’t spit them out but he gives a defiant glare.

“Swallow them.”

He shakes his head. 

“They’ll make you feel better. I’ll hold your nose again.”

Joker rolls his eyes and gives up, swallowing the pills. Batman lets go of his mouth “There, are you happy?”

“No.”

“Here!” Richard bounces back into the room, handing him a neat little sandwich. He wasn’t aware they even had these products in his home. 

He can’t help but smile as the sparkly boy smiles at him, “Thanks, kiddo.” He ruffles the boy’s hair. He doesn’t want to eat but the kid is watching him and he knows he has to. He takes a bite and the hunger hits him like a brick. He continues to snarf the rest of the food down, he hadn’t realised he’d need something to eat till then.

“Whoa, slow down. Mr. Joker.”

“J will do just fine, Richard.” He sighs happily and reaches out to give the kid another ruffle. Robin giggles. The Bat, he realises, is watching him like a hawk. If he didn’t know the superhero so well he wouldn’t have seen the surprise.

“I think I’m going to be just fine.” He smiles at Robin, not his usual sneer but just a smile. 

“Come home with us!” Robin smiles and takes his hands, tugging on them slightly. 

“He can’t come home with us.” Batman shakes his head. “In fact, it's about time we take him back to Arkham Asylum.”

“No!” Richard whines. “He can’t go there. Hes already so fragile, lets take him home!”

He grimaces at being called fragile but he can’t say anything about it because it's currently helping his chances of not going back to Arkham. 

“We can’t house a criminal.”

“Please?” Robin pouts and his eyes water. 

The dark night groans, slumping his posture slightly. “Fine,” Batman growls slightly.

“Yay!” Robin softly touches his hands.

“And who says I want to come stay with you?” He shakes his head as the little boy tugs at his hands. 

“Mr. Joker, sir, we just want you to get better. Please come with us.”

Richard’s eyes water up, causing the big puppy dog eyes to shimmer. He feels himself knit his eyebrows together and he lets out a sigh. “Aw, shucks kid. Fine”

Richard grins and the next thing the Joker knows his hands are cuffed together by the bat. “Hey! What's the matter, Batsy?~ Don’t trust me?~”

“Nope.” Batman tugs him along but he feels a soft little gloved hand hold his arm and he looks down. Robin smiles up at him.

“We are going to make you all better.” The kid beams, squeezing his arm reassuringly. 

***

The Joker is brought into the batcave. He doesn’t look around, he's been here before. Batman pushes him along to sit him down in a chair. His wrist is locked to it, but he finds he doesn't care much. 

“Stay here, I’m going to get Bruce Wayne. Come Robin.” Batman turns with an eccentric flare of the cape. 

Robin seems to give him a confused look before following. Seeming to remember that the Joker is still chained to a chair he spins in the elevator. “Mr. Joker, we’ll be right back.” 

He only nods in response as he's left alone. His thoughts over take him and he doesn’t like the surge of voices he hears. Not to mention the shadows are moving on their own. The medication isn’t kicking in and he's beginning to think the terrors that plague him might be getting used to its affects on him.

A man seems to come out of the shadows, it vaguely looks like him. Except it's just a shadow. “Batsy’s house, hmm?” It speaks in his voice, jumbled and dripping with malice. 

“What do you want?” He barks at the dark. 

“Oh, I’m just here to have a chat. Tell you the deal.” This version of him doesn’t even have a mouth. It moves around the room like it might be made out of liquid. The coattails seem to have a mind of their own, perching upwards in a threatening stance as the thing crouches.

He grimaces as its head seems to angle to far to the side. “You know he doesn’t care about you.”

“Why should he?” He angles his face away as it crawls closer, feet moving before the body. 

Its head snaps forward. “You care about him. I’m not sure why but you care about him.”

“W-who?” He turns his head.

“The boy.”

“And?”

“You’ve gone and gotten attached to him, what a silly mistake.” 

The Joker turns his face back towards the monster in front of him. “Go away.” He says it calmly.

Its face splits open, a mouth full of sharp teeth that drip something black and chunky, “Neither does the bat. He's not interested.” A large tongue slithers out, dripping like the teeth, and licks a line of goo up his cheek. “No one will ever be interested in being around you. Look at you, you’ve lost it, Jokes.” 

This time he shouts it as he feels like throwing up, “Go away!” He struggles but his wrist keeps him from scrambling away.

The creature lets out a shrill cackles, ten times worse than hearing his own laughter split the air. “GO AWAY!” He thrashes in the chair. “GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY.” He can feel tears streaming down his face. He feels so weak as this thing simply cackles and tells him the worst qualities about himself.

Hands touch The Jokers cheeks softly, “Joker!” Richard is in front of him. Looking worried. He tries to stop crying but it seems to bubble up out of his chest. 

“We should get you upstairs.” His arm is unlocked and he looks up at the man. This must be Bruce Wayne. He can see why the man is considered a playboy. He could cut himself on those cheekbones.

“Well, hello, sweetheart~” His tears haven’t even stopped rolling but he's flirting. 

“Batman told me you were messed up, but I didn’t know it was this bad. Come on.” Bruce helps him to his feet. Unlocking his hands, he flexes his fingers. The Joker looks up at the billionaire. “I’m unlocking you, but please don’t make me regret it.”

“Promise I won’t.” He grins, whipping his cheeks off.

Hes given a glare before being forced to go to the elevator with a small push. “Just watch yourself. I can take you out.” 

“Oh, I bet you can, Brucie~”

***

Richard grabs his hands and helps him sit down. “What happened down there?”

The Joker smiles at the kid, “Oh, it's just the voices again.” He doesn’t want to talk about the creature he met down in the batcave. His only hope is that it won’t resurface. 

“It seemed like more, but okay.” Richard sits down with him on the couch. “Dad has some work to do. Hope you don’t mind but it's just you and me.” 

“Not at all, kiddo.” He smiles.

“Is your medication not working.”

“Afraid so, my boy.” He sighs.

“We should get you some new ones! Maybe a stronger dose.” Richard goes to get up but he shakes his head.

“I don’t want to be drugged up all my life, but I appreciate all the concern.”

“If you say so.” Richard looks saddened by the news. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Me and you both, kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loosely based the hallucinations off of this scene: https://youtu.be/nRWHybC5QWM?t=50s. And by loosely I mean just the way it moves and that disgusting way it talks.


	3. Turn Off All the Lights

The Joker ends up spending a lot of his time either alone or with Richard. He's growing fonder of the kid each day. He stays in a room that is far away from the three other people sleeping in the house. They found out quickly that he chatters a lot to himself, to him he's just making conversation with this new creature.

Alfred usually brings him something to relax him at night. At first the butler is wary of him, knowing his past work and how unstable he is. Eventually Alfred starts giving him medication and taking after him. Even though the man’s voice seems to stay at the standard butler level he thinks Alfred likes him. 

The clown is starting to think this is dangerous. Hes getting connected to the people around the house. He likes Alfred. Likes how the butler makes sure he's feeling alright when it's morning. He likes Richard. Likes how the kid wants to make everyone happy. He thinks he should leave soon.

“If you didn’t like it you would be gone by now.” The creature slumps like a puddle on the floor. He doesn’t acknowledge the things comment. “You are right where you want to be.” 

He pitches something at the creature who just laughs as it goes through the monster and clanks to the floor. 

It's about two in the morning as he slips from his room and wanders his way to the kitchen. The Joker can’t be bothered to wake the butler, he’d actually feel bad about it. So instead he rummages around in the kitchen for something he can eat. 

“What are you doing up?” Bruce Wayne is staring at him from across the kitchen. He jumps at first.

“Whoa! You wanna make your presence obvious instead of sneaking up on people in the dark!” the thin man clutches at his chest.

“What are you doing up?” Bruce reiterates. 

He hesitates before answering, “I couldn’t sleep.”

The man hesitates as well, “Me either.”

The Joker can’t help but smile a bit, “Looks like you and I got some things in common, brucie~”

“Don’t call me that.” The man huffs and enters the kitchen, rummaging through leftovers.

“What's the dealio? I never see you around.” He perches himself on a stool, resting his chin in his hands. 

“Batman tells me you’re up to something.”

Joker rolls his eyes, “Why does everyone think that about me. I’m simply just here, Brucie-babe.”

“Don’t call me that either.” The man stuffs something in the microwave, turning around to glare at him. Hair messy and blocking one of his eyes. Joker grins because he’d like to run his hands through it. “Stay away from my family.”

“If I wanted to hurt them I would have done it by now and you know it.” He bats his eyelashes, putting on an innocent look.

“If you hurt them-”

“Relax, Bruce. You’re family is safe.” He lets the usual smile drop from his face. “I like them surprisingly. They are both very nice.”

“They are too good to be helping you.”

“Oh, but Bruce, they are helping me because they are kind and I’m kind to them.”

“I know what you really are. And it's not this.” Bruce pulls the food out of the microwave and gives him a glare. 

“Harsh, Bruce.” He huffs and drops his chin to the table, slumping. The man leaves without another word to him. The shadows come out to play with his mind again.  Sneering with those big sharp teeth. 

***

He keeps running into Bruce Wayne. Usually when he can’t sleep, it seems to be a common theme between them. The conversations get easier, not by much but possibly just a little bit. 

“What do they tell you?” Bruce asks as they drink warm tea in the lounge. 

The Joker looks up from his mug to meet the man’s gaze. There seems to be genuine curiosity there. “Things I don’t like about myself. Things that make me upset.”

“What's it like? I’ve heard how upset they make you.”

He tries to relax into their conversation, but it's always made him uneasy to talk about his condition. “The shadows come alive. Dripping and giggling. They tell me things about people around me that I know aren’t true but they get under my skin. They talk to me when I’m alone and make me feel small.” He doesn’t want to spill too much so he stops himself from vomiting up words.

Bruce nods, shifting as if discomforted by his illness. He frowns. “What? You don’t like that?” He's frowning.

“Sorry, It's just strange.”

This conversation is not going well and he's only going to ruin it more. “Well, Brucie. I don’t like it either but guess what: I don’t have a choice.” He stands and dumps the tea on the carpet,taking his leave.

Later he’ll realise that he's left a mess for Alfred and not the billionaire. He can feel bad about it when he's alone but for now he's enraged. 

The Joker retreats to his room to stare at the shadow.

“Wouldn’t it be just easier if you weren’t alive.” the creature crawls towards him, claws digging into the bed as it crawls up next to him.

“Shut up, you aren’t real.”

“Oh, but you’re feelings are.” It sits on his chest, not weightless but pressing against him firmly. The smile splits open and black flecks hit his cheeks. “I'm just the only way you can think about them.”

“Go away.” He says like he does every night.

“You are not special and eventually they will get tired of you. And once they do, what are you going to do? Crime doesn’t make you happy anymore.”

“That's not true, I'm just.” He struggles to explain himself to the creature. “Going through some things right now.”

“Does it have to do with the Bat?” The face he makes is a give away, not that this thing can’t read his mind. It has before and it definitely can now. “Oooo~ It does.”

“No.”

“What.” The thing scoffs, “Do you need him to feel happy?” It leans in closer, chunks of the thick black liquid hitting his face. “Are you in love with him?” He closes his eyes as it cackles above him, black dripping down his face almost suffocating him. “You’re pathetic.” 

He lets out a shrill bark of: “GO AWAY!” The thing seems to only enjoy his pleas as it cackles louder and louder. But he's not sure if he's laughing or if it's laughing. Something is puffing out of his lungs.

The door opens up, Joker sits upright, expecting to see Richard or Alfred. Instead Bruce Wayne has a hand on the door knob. They sit in silence as they stare eachother down, both confused about what they are doing here.

“I heard you laughing, but you didn’t sound happy.”

So it had been him laughing, he nods. “Yah, uh, that was me.” 

“Are you alright?” Bruce lets go of the door knob and drops his hand to his side.

“Far from it.” He smiles.

It's silent for a few moments longer, “What do you need?” Bruce seems to muster after a bit of time. 

“I’m not sure, but somebody better get it soon.”

Bruce shifts, clearly unsure of what to do for a brief moment. “Come with me.” Bruce offers his hand out.

The Joker stares at it before getting off the bed and taking the hand. He feels like he remember's this hand. In a method of a coping mechanism he giggles, “Oh, Bruce where are you taking me~”

“Shush.” The man huffs, “I’m taking you to the living room.”

They walk in silence, something he's not accustomed to in usual situation. He's always made noise. He's known for never shutting up.

They enter the grand room and Bruce lets go of his hands. Opening up the windows to let the moonlight drip in. “Sit.” Another mug of tea is handed to him. This is where he feels bad about dumping the tea out before.

“I overacted.”

“No, you didn’t” Bruce wraps a blanket around him. “Drink.”

Hes about to take a sip before he grins, “You’ve put drugs in this haven’t you?”

“They’ll help you sleep. I know you haven’t been.”

“Little creepy there, Bruce. Been watching me sleep on those cameras of yours?”

“I might keep tabs on you, but I certainly don't watch you sleep.”

He smiles lightly as he takes a sip and feels warm. “This is sweet, Brucie~ Taking care of me.”

“Don’t get used to it.” His eyelids feel heavy and he lays down. Bruce lays a blanket across his legs that are uncovered. “Good Night, Joker.”

***

The Joker wakes up on the couch, someone has closed the blinds for him so the sun won’t wake him. Alfred is picking up the mug from last night.

“Sorry for the mess.” He mumbles out.

“Its alright, sir. You and master Wayne had a fight?”

He nods, “But he helped me in the end. He reminds me of someone I know.”

“Yes, he can be quite nice if he wants to be.”

“J!” Richard bounds into the room, having way too much energy for the morning. The kid bundles him up in a hug and he ruffles the boys hair.

“Morning, kiddo~”

Surprisingly Bruce Wayne is not far behind, yawning and stretching up. He whistles, which earns him a glare from the man. 

“Master Wayne. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

“Family breakfast!” Richard beams his oh so special smile.

***

Breakfast is a bit awkward but Richard is excellent at cutting the tension and getting them both to smile. Bruce starts to spend more time with them. It's not all quite fixed but it's getting better. The energy between them isn’t as suffocating as it used to be. 

They even share some moments alone where it's easy to talk. He asks a question and then Bruce asks him one. They smile at each question when they run out of things to really ask about. The conversation turning to more light matters like favorite movies. He finds his heart fluttering in his chest and Bruce gives him soft looks every now and then.

“You seem so different.”

“From what?”

“What I’ve heard about the Joker.”

Hes about to make a silly joke but his smile fades, because he doesn’t really feel the same either. “Yes well.” He shifts slightly.

“Goodnight, J.” Bruce smiles lightly before getting up and gently pulling him into a hug.

He hesitantly hugs the man back, “Goodnight~” When the man leaves he feels his cheeks burning and he touches them. His chest swells up.

*** 

And then he has to go and ruin it. It's one of the bad days. He's in a room full of people and yet the monster is lurking in the shadows and he's been staring at it for a solid couple of minutes. Everyone around him sounds like they are underwater.

“You know what I'm going to do.” The creatures smile splits open. He darts his eyes towards Richard. “Oh, yah.” The thing cackles and he can tell it's just coming from his own mouth. The thing lunges for Richard but he feels his own body lift without his consent.

Very suddenly pressing his palm to the boys jugular and screaming stop. Robin’s breath is fleeting and he wants to stop so bad but it feels like someone else is in control of his actions.

The Joker is ripped away from the boy. He struggles and squirms, his thoughts spinning and his head hurting.

A forearm presses against his throat and the impact of being slammed against a wall jars him out of his delusion. Bruce is glaring at him, holding him against the wall. 

“Didn’t mean to-” He chokes out as his air is cut off.

“Don’t.” the taller man presses harder and his lungs scream. “I’ve had enough. You have to go.” The man lets up, presumably because he must be turning colors. 

“Bruce-”

“Don’t. You hurt him. I don’t have time to hand deliver you to Arkham. But when I get back from telling Batman about this you better be gone. If not I can’t stop him from what he might do.”

Hes fully let go and he crumples to the ground, coughing.

“Do you understand?” Bruce is practically spitting fire down at him. He nods because he knows if he speaks it will come out broken. 

“They told me to.” he's right, he sounds pathetic. Richard doesn’t make eye contact with him, and that's harder than being told to leave. He feels like sobbing but nothing will come out. His forehead presses to the floor and he covers his head. He can still hear cackling, that damned cackling echoing around the room. 


	4. Identities

Joker doesn’t really remember how he climbed up here, Wayne manor has so many staircases he's not sure how he found the right one. The moon light just barely shines down on him. The wind is blowing: whipping up his rain soaked hair.

It's a long fall he thinks as he stares down from the roof to the sharp rocks and churning water below. How could it have come to this. He was supposed to be a criminal mastermind, yet he was bent so easily to the whims of his inner turmoil. His mind so far gone that he now stood contemplating life and death itself.

“I told you.” The creature is sitting on the edge, perched like a gargoyle. “Once they are reminded of what you really are, they will want to be rid of you.”

“Thats your fault.” He speaks shakily. 

“I suppose so. But I’m still a part of you, somewhere deep down. Even if you are hallucinating me.” There's a brief bit of silence. “So what's the verdict, Jokes? All you have to do is take a step and all of it will go away. Pain, voices, hallucinations.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then what makes you want to stay?” He briefly thinks of Richard as he stares down at the dark blue. “He doesn’t even like you anymore, dont you remember what you did?”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“He's scared of you.” The words are hissed and they hurt him, because he knows it's true. Pity, he li-loved that kid. “How precious.”

He thinks of his ever growing relationship with Alfred. “Him too, J. You know he will see you as a threat now.”  He thinks of his growing feelings for the billionaire. This makes the creature cackle. “Oh how pitiful~ You thought you could make a home for yourself. Thought he’d fall for you like you have for him? Why would he do that. Look at yourself, you’re a wreck.”

“Shut up.” He watches as the waves crash against the sharp rocks. Can imagine falling towards them and then feeling nothing as he slips out of this world.

“We have a visitor.” It tilts its head.

Joker’s eyes flit up to the dark shadow huddled on the roof of a building on the mainland. He takes the moments to have a seat on the edge of the mansion. Kicking his legs in a little rhythm. He’s waiting patiently for the Bat to come and convince him not to. However, if it doesn't happen soon, he's going to do it.

Relief floods the clown as the figure shoots a grappling hook to the roof and is in relative distance within seconds. “Joker.” Batman huffs.

“Here to tell me what to do, Batsy?~”

“You shouldn’t-”

“And why not?” He looks down at the water. “What do I got going for me.”

“Let me take you back to Arkham Assy-”

“No!” He springs up and away from the edge. “You aren’t getting the point here. There isn’t anything left! Nothing! I don’t even know who I am or if this is real! I could jump and wake up in bed, faced with creatures and voices! I could wake up and be me again. I could wake up and be in my ware house. I could wake up and not be this.” 

He collapses to the floor. Head spinning and tears constricting his throat. Something is breaking inside him. A long string of memories he doesn’t want to remember spring forward. A sandy blonde haired boy, normal skin, and pale lips smiling in a photo he's lost by now. A name he didn’t remember till he could see the little boy spat in his face.

It's very quite for the the next few moments. Neither of them moves and with each silent second he feels like breaking down but doesn’t want to cry despite himself. Until a sob wracks his slim frame. Tears dropping without him blinking. 

“Joker-” The bat bends down to touch his shoulder.

He cuts the hero off, “Jack.” He says too small and quiet for anyone to hear.

“What?” 

He looks up, feeling his wet hair plastered to his face and tears hidden by the rain. “My name was Jack.” Batman is staring at him in absolute disbelief. “Jack Napier.” He shivers, whether it's from crying or the cold he can’t tell. 

“Jack.” Batman exhales. He hasn’t heard his name from someone else's lips in a long time, in fact he can’t remember it at all, just knows its his. He nods, a smile on his lips despite the broken sound that comes out of him. It sounds so smooth and caring. 

There's a few seconds hesitation before the Bat bows his head and the cowl is removed. Bruce Wayne is the face that looks back at him. He blinks to make sure he's not hallucinating, not that that ever got rid of things like this before. He can confirm that the man in front of him is Bruce Wayne, dressed as Batman before him.

He sniffles before giving a confused look, “You’re fucking _ batman? _ ” That makes the man before him smile.

“Yes.”

He slumps his tense shoulders, “So you’re not roommates. You’re..the same person.” Bruce nods giving him a look that practically spits idiot at him. 

Joke-Jack finds a smile cracking his facial features. “Batman is billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.” A fit of giggles starts in his chest and makes its way out. “Wow~ Never knew, my big bad bat was so handsome underneath all that edgy armor.”

Bruce rolls his eyes but smiles at the very end, and that makes him giggle harder. Once he's done he can’t help but reach out. Touching the sharp angles of Bruce’s cheeks. The bat pulls his head back slightly but his hands follow.

“I’m sorry.” He feels the tears threaten to start again, his smile gone.

“I overreacted.” Bruce deliberately mimics. 

“No, you didn’t” He repeats the words once said to him with a giggle.

Bruce turns his body slightly and opens up a pouch, fishing out some pills. Jack recognizes them as his medication.

“It's time to start taking these again.”

He never thought he would agree to that but he gently takes them out of the Bat’s hand and inserts them into his mouth. Swallowing them without a second thought. He looks up into the eyes of a man he's tussled with more than once. That he's been so conflicted with for the past month. That he had an argument with and destroyed the city just to get the man’s attention. The same man he's shared private talks with and soft moments at midnight. The same one he's been getting closer and closer to since they started talking like people. 

“Hate means love.” He says it softly, unable to look away but wanting to. Its mostly for himself, just to hear the revelation from his own mouth. There's only mild surprise on Bruce’s face.

“I know.”

“Hate means love.” He repeats in a sterner voice, hands finding the man's jawline, thumbs pressing into those sharp cheeks. This one is for the billionaire, to make his thoughts clear to the man in front of him.

“I know.” Bruce repeats back softly.

“Hate means love.” He says it just as softly and he realises he's too close, but the bats lips are next to his ear.

“I hate you.” There's no real malice to it, and an underlying tone of something else. His breath leaves him, he re-adjusts his hands and brings Bruce into a kiss. The other man seems a bit taken aback but suddenly the lips against his reciprocate and hands pull him closer. 

He clumsily speaks against the lips, quietly. “I hate you, too.” He's ghosting his lips against Bruce’s and whispering. The hate slowly turning to a whispered “I love you.”

His eyelids feel heavy, whether it's because he's enjoying this endeavor too much or because he's tired he doesn’t care to know. “Let's head inside, you’re drenched.” The billionaire scoops him up with ease.

Jack hangs on to the man carrying him. “Can’t believe I’m in love with my Bats~” He giggles as he cared inside the home.

His bat heads through the halls without interruption, it is night time after all. Jack can feel himself becoming tired, slumping against the taller man. Surprisingly he wasn’t taken to his own room.

Bruce Wayne’s room was  mostly black, the curtains drawn. The bed is large with silk sheets over it and he finds himself lightly dumped onto it. The taller man leaves him on the bed and he shivers. The cold seeping into him further.

“Here” Bruce wraps him up in a big luxurious towel, the fabric covering his eyes. Hands scrub at his hair. Ruffling it to dry it all out. He lets out a soft little sigh. “There,” the towel is pulled away from his head and bunched up around his shoulders. 

Jack pulls it closer, smiling. “Who knew you could be so gentle, Batsy~”

“Speaking of, you can’t tell anyone about this. None of your little friends and no one outside this house.”

He puts one finger out to stop the man from speaking, “shhh, sh, sh, dont worry. Your identity is safe with me~” he bats his eyelashes. 

Bruce rolls his eyes but he can see a hint of a smile, “Thanks.” The billionaire moves to the closet and picks some clothes out. Dropping them on the bed. “Put these on, your clothes need to dry.”

“You are being so kind to lil’ ol’ me~” He stands up and drops the towel.

“You were just having a mental breakdown. Of course I'm doing this.” Bruce leaves for the closet again and Jack can hear the man taking the suit off. He stands and unabashedly takes off his vest, letting it fall to the ground. Un-buttoning his orange button up he lets it slide from his shoulders. Undoing the button on his pants and the zipper, he slides his hands in front and moves them to the side, pushing the pants down.

Bruce Wayne makes a choking sound as he re-enters the room. It brings a smile to Jack’s lips. He steps out of the pants and instead of getting dressed; dives onto the bed.

“S-shouldn’t you put some clothes on?”

“Why?” He invites himself into the bed, huddling under the covers. The bed smells like the billionaires cologne. He takes a deep breath and his heart feels like it flutters in his chest. 

He doesn’t receive and answer so he takes that as submission. Instead the man strikes up a new topic. “You can’t sleep in here.”

“Why not, Batsy~” 

“Because it's my bed.”

“Oh, I’m fully aware of that, sugar~” He grins from underneath the covers.

Bruce Wayne sighs, “Would you stop with the names?” The man sits on the end of the bed.

He sits up and slings his arms around the billionaires neck. “Why?” He purrs into the bats ear. 

“Because this isn’t normal. It's just….weird.” Despite the words Jack can feel goosebumps flare up on the man. 

“Just loosen up, Brucie~” He presses his lips to the man’s neck. Smearing a good bit of lipstick against the skin there.

“No no no.” Bruce pushes him back slightly. He giggles lightly as the taller of them shakes his head.

“You’re no fun, Bats.”

“I’m taking you back to your room.”

A spike of fear shoots through him, alone means voices and hallucinations. “No!’ He grabs the man’s wrist before it can come any closer. “Please, I don’t want to be alone.” Something in his voice cracks at the end. 

The stern look softens slightly, “Alright, Jack.” Bruce nods slightly. “You can stay here. If you keep your hands to yourself.”

To make light of his previous hint at another break down he smiles, “No promises.”

The Bat rolls his eyes before scooting up the bed. He immediately breaks his promise as he lays his head against the man’s wide chest. 

“Oh, my new favorite place to sleep.” He can hear a small hum of restrained laughter in the man’s chest. He giggles at that, how this stern person is not as reserved as he likes to think, Easily broken by the Joker's antics. 

“If this will get you to sleep, then I don’t care.” 

He lets his hands wander slightly, there's no repercussions for the action, so he continues. Resting his palm on the bats chest. To his own surprise Bruce moves his legs to accommodate his weight. It helps to hear the steady beat of the other man’s heart, instead of his own dreadful insanity spitting in his face.

“Thank you, Bruce~” He breathes out. There isn’t a verbal answer, but strong arms wrap around him. Even if he doesn’t like the voices they were right about this. He feels safe. He might even get a good rest in tonight.

***

Joker can’t remember the last time he had an actual restful sleep. He didn’t even have a single dream. He felt well rested and full of energy. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. He giggled as he awoke to Bruce’s arms holding him close. “Aw, Bats~” He presses a kiss to the man’s cheek.

A hand grabs his jaw but releases just as fast as it had gripped him. “Sorry. Reflexes.” Comes the sleepy response.

“Oh, don’t you worry about it, darling. I don’t mind being roughed up.” 

He grins as the man holding him groans and mumbles something that sounds like “It's too early for this.”

Jack giggles more as he sits up, placing his own hands against the man’s chest. The hands holding him slide farther down his slim frame. He feels a bit of his breath leave him. “Careful now, Batsy~” The hands are immediately removed and he pouts before hearing a familiar voice. 

“Master Wayne-” Alfred stops speaking. Jack finds himself giggling at the intimacy of their position. Especially witht the billionaire's lips smudged with lipstick, along with smudges on the neck and cheek. 

“Alfred.” Bruce pushes him away and he finds himself quickly on the other side of the bed.

“I’ve brought coffee. Master J, Would you care for some?” Alfred’s voice barely has the hint of surprise at the end.

“Aw you’re too kind~ If it's not too much trouble?” He grins as he runs his hands through his own hair.

“Not at all, sir.” Alfred sets the already made up mug on the night stand and takes his leave. Jack is immediately given a glare by the other man. His response is to run his hands back through his hair and arch his back, winking. 

“You’re ridiculous.” Bruce picks the mug up, “Can you go back to your own room now?” 

“Nonsense, my coffee hasn’t arrived.” He shakes his head. 

“Alfred will understand where you have gone if you aren’t here.” The bat takes a sip and seems to relax back against the bedframe. 

“No fun, Bruce. That's what they should call you.” 

“I can be plenty fun.”

“Prove it.” He smirks. 

Bruce’s fingers jab at his sides and he finds himself laughing, oh this is playing dirty. He kicks and giggles, unable to stop the stream of tears running down his face. “You win! I give up!” A satisfied chuckle leaves Bruce’s lips, taking another sip of coffee. “Now this is usually the part where you tie me up~” He licks his own lips and the small smile on the bats face turns back to a frown. 

“Aw, where did the happy Bruce go?~ I like him, he knows how to have fun~” Joker keeps pressing.

Bruce sets the mug down and grabs his wrists, tugging him up. “Do you ever stop talking?” he gets a small thrill down his spin and can’t help giggling.

“Not often~” He grins, pushing his arms forward, and out of the man’s grip, to snake their way around those broad shoulders. “But you could shut me up, Batsy~”

Jack doesn’t expect to get what he wants from this behavior but is pleasantly surprised when he's rewarded. Lips pressing softly against his. He lets out a pleased hum. Bruce’s hands lightly hold his waist and the man looms over him slightly.

“Sirs” Alfred clears his throat as he re-enters the room. Jack finds himself dropped onto his back again. 

“Thanks you~” He smiles and holds his hands out to accept the mug. 

“I hope it is to your liking.”

He takes a sip and finds its tooth-rottingly sweet, barely even coffee under all the sugar and cream. “Its perfect~” He purrs.


	5. Domestic

Jokers clothes are all dried out as he slips them back on. He rolls the cuffs back up as he walks back to his supposed room. The sun breaking in through the tall windows. He pulls the stick of lipstick out of his pocket and reapplies it.

“Joker?” A small voice asks from the room. He turns his attention to the boy. “I thought dad kicked you out?” Despite what he thinks will be the boy's reaction, Robin is smiling.

“Far from it, kiddo.” He takes a step closer, expecting to see Richard flinch but instead the boy gets up to meet him halfway. Jack is surprised when Richard hugs him. He slowly wraps his arms around the boy.

“Good. I’d miss you if you were gone.”

“You would?” He smiles lightly.

“Of course” Richard looks up at him with those big eyes, “You’re family now” Jack smiles even wider. Bruce walks in and his eyebrows raise. “Padre!~” Richard pulls away from him to hug the billionaire.

“Morning, Richard” Bruce hugs the kid back.

“Dad, you’ve got some um,” the boy points to his own lips, the billionaire whips at his lips and his fingers come back red.

Bruce grimaces at him. Jack giggles, winking and pointing around his face. “You’re kidding, Jack.”

Richard gasps and presses his palms to his own face. “Does this mean I have two dads again!”

Jack looks up at Bruce, waiting for the other man to set the barrier of what's right. Bruce seems to just stare at him for a second too long. “Yes, Richard.”

“Oh my goodness!” the boy returns to hugging him, tighter than before. “Clown-dad! I’m going to call you papa~”

Jack smiles at Bruce as he ruffles the boy's hair, a realisation dawning on him. “I have a son.”

“Don’t get too excited about it.” Bruce is smiling as he says it though. He can’t keep down a giggle.

“Oh I’m going to teach him how to get out of handcuffs and how to steal a car and-”

“You can teach him that first one but not the other.”

“Wanna learn how to get out of handcuffs, kiddo?”

“Yah!”

Richard beams up at him and he holds his wrists out to Bruce. “Come on, Batsy~ Set a good example~”

***

Jack lays down in bed, Bruce told him he should try to sleep alone. It doesn’t take very long for him to feel the weight of his hallucination crawl up on the bed. “Well-”

“You’ve got nothing to bicker at me about anymore.”

“Oh, you think so?” It cackles. “Jokes, I thought we knew each other well enough by now to know that I will always find something.” He leans away as the thing drips onto the bed. “I mean, Batman could always throw you back into Arkham whenever he feels like it.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“He's just doing this to placate you, Jack. Keep you here. You’re his prisoner.”

“Am not!”

“Oh, I’ve struck a nerve~ If you aren’t his prisoner than why hasn’t he let you leave.”

“He's not keeping me here.”

“Then leave!” It spits on him and his skin crawls and itches where the black thick liquid shimmers on his cheek. “You aren’t cut out for this life! It's too domestic. I’ll get bored here. You’ll end up hurting them unless I get what I want!”

“GO AWAY” He really should have learned by now that saying things like go away will never actually get the thing to leave. In fact it seems to take pleasure in the two simple words. Probably something about getting under his skin.

Arms envelope him in a tight hug, one hand on the back of his head and he gasps slightly at the sudden intrusion. Jack hadn’t even heard the door open up. “Jack,” Bruce’s hands cup his cheeks. “Jack, it's alright. I’m here. It's okay.” He can tell he's breathing hard. “Come on. You’re coming back to bed with me.”

“I thought you said I shouldn’t do that.”

“I know what I said but I was wrong. The last thing you need to be is alone.” Bruce doesn’t ask permission before hoisting him up and he barely has time to grab on before he's being carried.

It's silent for a few beats before he speaks up, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

He smiles nervously, “I can’t even spend one night alone.”

“So? I understand why. You aren’t weak for having mental illnesses, Jack.”

He sucks air in slowly and can feel his chest swelling up. “Thank you, Bruce.” He can’t cry again. He's already done enough of that. The billionaire lays him down in bed and carefully covers them both up.

He's unsure of where to put his hands until Bruce pulls him in close. Gently petting at his hair. He moves one of his own hands to the man’s side and the other to lightly caress the other's lips with his thumb.

Their eyes meet and he can’t help his flair for the dramatic, he sighs “How did I get so lucky?~”

Bruce rolls his eyes with a smile, lightly kissing his thumb. He giggles and presses his face into the other man. Glad to be held so close. “Gotta say, Brucie~ I haven’t felt this happy in a long time~”

“Do you like it here?” Bruce gently rubs his thumbs into his back.

“Yes,” A voice at the back of his head speaks up, “But um.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m feeling. Isolated. Trapped.” He can feel himself on the verge of rambling. “You’re keeping me here because you don’t want me on the streets and this is the only way you can think to keep me her-”

A thumb glides over his lips mimicking his own previous movements, smearing his lipstick slightly and getting him to stop talking. “Jack,” Bruce sighs, “A part of me doesn’t want to say it but you are free to leave the manor whenever you want.” He scrunches his face up into a confused look. “But I want you to stay. Not because you’ll probably commit some sort of crime but because~”

He smiles lightly, “go on~”

“Because I love you, Jack~”

His breath hitched in his throat and he can’t help but sling his arms around the man's neck and kiss him as hard as he can. When he pulls away he's breathing heavy again, “I love you too, Bruce~”

The billionaire smiles down at him, “Go to sleep, Jack. I’ll keep the voices away~”

He giggles and closes his eyes, “Thanks, my big strong bats~” He can hear the man chuckle just before he starts to doze off.

***

Jack leaves the very next day, slips right out of Bruce’s bed and walks out the front doors. The voice was right. It felt good to be out of the mansion and out on his own again. He didn’t feel good about just leaving so he left a note simply saying “I’ll call you~” with a winky face in the corner. It didn’t even take long for him to get in contact with all his friends again. They were all where he left them.

Joker currently stands in the dramatic light of the bat signal, his coattails blowing in the slight night breeze.

“You sure he’ll come, puddin’?” Harley tilts her head slightly.

“Oh yeah, he’ll be here. When he gets here. Just scatter.”

“But, Mr. J, Don’t you think that he’ll just take you back to Arkham?” She gives him a confused look.

“I’m 110% confident that he won’t. You and the others just take off.” He grins and she smiles with a nod.

“If you say so, boss!” She spins around and skates away, “C’mon!~” The rest of the villains follower her until he's alone.

He stands in the light and is pleased to see the dark figure approaching. He can tell the bat is ready for a fight, all tensed up. “Hello, Batsy~”

“Joker.”

“Aww, What happened to Jokes, j, Jack~”

“That was before you just slipped right out of my grasp.” There's a hint of hurt in the black clad man’s words, along with the sound of fists flexing.

“I only did it so we could have some fun.”

“This is your idea of fun?”

“Absolutely!~” He takes a swing at the bat who dodges and throws a punch straight into his gut. He lets out a painful noise, knocked to the ground pretty quickly. Wow, he really did make the other man upset. Usually the hits are a lot softer. The superhero is actually aiming to hurt him.

He’s up in a second though

“Wait wait wait!” He holds up his hands.

Batman's eyes narrow down at him and he smiles. “I swear I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted our old spark back for a bit.”

“Jack. We have a different ‘spark’ now, and preferably: its crime free. Where. Is. The. Bomb?”

“Hooked up to the bat signal. Go ahead. I gave the timer extra extra time. Anyone could stop that thing.”

Batman turns from him to the giant light and stalks over. The bomb easily diffused by a switch on the bottom.

“See?”

“Joker.” Bruce takes the cowl off, “You scared me half to death.” the bat is quickly on him again. Lifting him up but his collar like he's weightless. “You just weren’t there!”

“I thought I was being a minx~” He shrugs.

“No! I missed you when you weren’t there!”

He feels bad at that, smile fading away, “I’m sorry, Bruce. I was hoping we could tussle like old times.”

“Who gives a shit about old times.” Bruce rarely cusses so his eyebrows raise at the swear. “We can have new times,” the man sets him down. “But you have to stop running away from things you think you can’t fix.”

He takes a moment to let the words sink in. “Okay.” He nods.

Bruce pulls him into a hug which he returns and then a kiss. He carts his fingers through the black hair.

“I can’t promise to not commit crimes though~”

“Jack.”

“I’m still the Joker, Batsy~”

The billionaire rolls his eyes. “Robin missed you at breakfast.” seemingly dropping the current topic.

“Bless that kid~” He smiles, still playing with the billionaires hair. “Can I still make it for dinner?”

“Absolutely”

“Take me away then, Batman~” He holds his wrists out.

***

Richard is quick to hug him, “I missed you!”

He scoops the kid up into a hug. “You’re too sweet, kiddo. You’ll make your old man cry.”

“You’re not old.” Richard giggles as he's set back down.

“No I’m too fun to be old~”

“Are you implying I can’t be fun?” Bruce walks past them with a smile.

“I’m the fun dad and everyone knows it here.” He keeps his arm around Robin as they walk towards the dining room.

Bruce laughs, “You are not the ‘fun’ dad.”

“He kind of is.”

They take a seat at the table. “Look, now you’ve turned my own kid against me.” Bruce gives him a fake pout.

Jack giggles and cups his cheeks, “Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart~”

Richard clears his throat a bit to interrupt their moment.  “Let’s eat!~”

Alfred joins them a moment later and he feels like time has stopped. Everyone around him is smiling and for once he feels happy. Bruce gives him a questioning look and he just smiles. Offering a hand out on the table. Bruce gently takes his hand and for once he can’t hear a single voice.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope you liked it! I've got like two more parts that i've almost written. I just did't want them to be part of the main story line but just little snippets so i'll add them to a series!


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